On Thursday 30th January 2014 Judy Ledger, Founder of the President’s chosen charity, Baby Lifeline, visited The Joiners Shop to be presented with a cheque for £3,000 by IDE President Steve Jack. Thank you to all of our members who contributed to this generous donation and extremely worthy cause. Judy has kindly provided the following information to explain where the funds will be used.

Thanks to the generosity of President Steve Jack and fellow Institute of Demolition members, where over ££6,716.57 was raised and donated to Baby Lifeline, this small but unique charity has been able to launch its most challenging and ground breaking support for the maternity sector yet.

This project – BIRTH 2 UK Maternity Training Initiative, is our direct and practical response to key national report findings to make maternity care around birth safer by delivering specialist training for professionals. Baby Lifeline has for many years delivered vital training where different NHS hospital professionals can be taught together and therefore learn the most up to date care. We have responded to many findings but particularly to those where it was reported last year that over 5,087 maternity claims had been notified, with the estimated total value of these claims – £3.1billion let alone looking at the human misery and cost to the victims.

Budget restrictions in the NHS have led to a reduced investment in training generally and in particular for external training where the interaction between those from different professions and different organisations is beneficial to maintaining standards of care.

Our new initiative promotes safety through best clinical practice and better communication to ensure the healthiest outcome possible from pregnancy and birth. Over 60 leading health professionals from all over the UK are secured to develop and deliver our training thanks to the support received.

Over 3,500 future delegates will now have the opportunity to attend any of the 48 heavily subsidised regional UK training courses in 2014.

Baby Lifeline was founded from personal tragedy 32 years ago and has since raised over £9 million for the provision of maternity and neonatal equipment and specialist training, with no statutory funding what so ever. It is through the generosity and support of people like Steve and his fellow members that we have been able to do this. – a big thank you!